Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[AmishGuy91]

So now I'm picturing waiting in a standby line for FoP for like 3 hours, then waiting for 2 hours for KS, and basically spending the entire day in line for whatever popular attraction I want to go on. Gee, that sounds like a swell WDW trip. I never thought I'd say this: but please bring back FP+!!

Or worse waste 2 hours in line for RotR and then it breaks down for 2 hours.

 

[jenjersnap]

Call me a cynic but I feel that phone and chat CMs are saying what they think people want to hear re: the park system availability. Have a 2021 resort reservation with tickets? ”YES, you can make them on 6/22! Please take the survey and tell Disney I am doing a great job!” And I understand it, it is Disney’s fault for not offering clear communication and direction.

It makes very little sense to overload the system this way. I feel like I need to light a candle for all of us and the poor CMs working on Monday.

 

[evino526]

So now I'm picturing waiting in a standby line for FoP for like 3 hours, then waiting for 2 hours for KS, and basically spending the entire day in line for whatever popular attraction I want to go on. Gee, that sounds like a swell WDW trip. I never thought I'd say this: but please bring back FP+!!

FoP standby is normally 2-3 hours on a day with FP+ and no capacity limits. Only question is how will cleaning and distancing affect the ride capacities. I’m fine with them doing away with FP+ for the time being. It does a number on standby wait times.

 

[FinallyFL]

SO.

Just emailed my Dreams Unlimited TA back to confirm we're planning to keep our trip plans, at least at this point, and she emailed me back that since I've confirmed with her, she'll be able to confirm my trip with Disney on Monday. She said I should hear back from her Monday evening with my new resort.

We're booked for POFQ 12/1-12/5 so I was really surprised by this. I didn't expect them to already be moving December reservations, but I guess that confirms they aren't planning to open any non-DVC resorts for the rest of the year? IMO it wouldn't make sense to go ahead and move December reservations if there was a chance the original booked resort might be open by then. But, what really makes sense nowadays?

Also, for everyone wondering about where they'll be sleeping for summer trips, based on this, I would think you'll be finding out this week!

Slightly disappointed - we were really looking forward to POFQ. We were just going to stay at All Star Movies again to save money but decided to splurge on POFQ for this trip. Looks like we should've gone with the cheaper resort after all. Oh, well. No way of knowing that when we booked back in January! Honestly, at this point we'll just be happy if we're even able to go. We can't afford to spend more than the POFQ rate, so we'll be playing DVC roulette instead of making change requests.

I did ask her if they've given TA's any info regarding the PIF window (usually it's 30 days before check-in but right now it's 7 days before)... this may already be known info for everyone else, but she said the 7-day PIF date applies to reservations through 9/30/20 right now, but that doesn't mean it won't be extended.

It'll be interesting to see where you are moved to as DVC has very limited availability in studios for the month of Dec. Plus December is more than 60 days out so that is a factor in how many rooms they can move to the cash system.

 

[vinotinto]

So that is good, as long as all the 2021 guests realise this and don’t clog up the system.

Or the phone lines reporting that they cannot make reservations.

Who are we kidding. Everything will be clogged!

 

[ryanpatricksmom]

Can Disney not afford to hire a retired English teacher to edit their communications? How many pages are we on now discussing what should be completely evident both in the mysterious e-mail (which I still haven't received, although I did get invited to the preview), the website updates, and the instructions contained in MDE. It really is absurd that there's no clarification.

I'm totally frustrated that I don't know what my resort is, but at least I understand that there are a lot of moving pieces involved in that process, and to be fair I'm 47 days away. But this...what should have been something to look forward to has created a whole new layer of anxiety....because a massive corporation can't put out an articulate and clear communication.

I had to settle for pixie chestnut, because I couldn't find a poop emoji

 

[AmberMV]

My TA specifically said TAs cannot make park reservations for guests because there are new terms and conditions the guest has to agree to. From my TA's email...

It is the policy of Dreams Unlimited Travel and Walt Disney Travel Company that we will NOT be able to make these park reservations for you. There are some safety terms and conditions that have to be confirmed by the guests and cannot be done by the travel agent.

Thank you!

 

[RamblingMad]

I think you're right, which is why the resort we're staying at matters. If we're at an Epcot resort, I don't want to book MK for the day we arrive vs. DHS, and vice versa. But I know those are going to go quickly so we need to have a plan and changing might not be an option. We also typically try to choose easy to get to parks for certain days, etc. I'm more and more surprised that they didn't address the resorts (open, people being moved, etc.) prior to this.

And who knows what those rooms will look like. Some of the DVC rooms that Pete showed on his YouTube channel looked in massive need of a refurb. I remember this being the case with Wilderness Lodge.

 

[vinotinto]

I think this is it exactly - and also why I never understood the idea that they would substantially use virtual queues. The queues absorb a lot of crowds. Without people in the queues, the park would still seem crowded in most other areas. At, say, 25% capacity, if few people are in line for rides, you might have 15-20k people wondering about the hub and Main Street and other common areas. While it's certainly worrisome that people won't abide by distancing in the queues (and even more worrisome, use that time out of sight of more of the CMs to not follow mask rules), for better or worse, Disney seems to be trusting people to follow the distancing markers in the queues so as not to have a lot of crowds throughout the park where it's harder for people to follow distancing because everyone's just milling about and going different ways. Think about Main Street and the Hub with crowds, it's a bit chaotic.

Totally. Much better to have everyone appropriately distanced in the standby queues than a free for all outside.

 

[WonderlandisReality]

Speculation on just how quickly reservations will be gone for mid-late August after the reservation system opens. I need to drop kids off at daycare at some point are we thinking something will be available a few hours in or is it really going to be awful?

assuming of course that the crash is less than 90% of the time

 

[thompsonemma357]

I have a question. Before COVID happened, we bought 4-park magic tickets for the last week of July. We are still planning on going and gave a resort reservation, so we are going to try and get reservations on Monday. With the 4-park magic ticket, you get access to each of the theme parks once. I’m worried the HS or MK is going to sell out and we aren’t going to be able to get one of each park. We go multiple times a year and don’t mind going to one of the park’s more than once over another park, but I’m worried our tickets are not going to allow us to. I guess my question is can I only go to each park once or can I go to others instead?

 

[RamblingMad]

Or the phone lines reporting that they cannot make reservations.

Who are we kidding. Everything will be clogged!

Monday is going to be a nightmare. Prepare yourself.

 

[hertamaniac]

Official letter from CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) relating to the suspension of cruises until September 15th; there are some interesting sentences/words in this letter.

Apparently, some of the cruise lines have already submitted their plans to reopen after the no sail order being set to expire on July 24th, but the CDC has not publicly commented on any of those individual plans. The rumor is that the major US cruise lines, decided to work more directly together, in unison, and through the CLIA to make the announcement yesterday in an effort to get feedback/recommendations from the CDC.

My personal take is that CLIA has made a preemptive move prior to a formal announcement from the CDC on post July 24th sailings. The CDC can impound every ship that violates the no sail order and puts them in a complete and commanding position. CLIA, and all of the cruise line partners, has now publicly declared that they need the CDC to make their recommendations and not be silent any longer.

https://cruising.org/news-and-resea...suspension-of-cruise-operations-from-us-ports

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Call me a cynic but I feel that phone and chat CMs are saying what they think people want to hear re: the park system availability. Have a 2021 resort reservation with tickets? ”YES, you can make them on 6/22! Please take the survey and tell Disney I am doing a great job!” And I understand it, it is Disney’s fault for not offering clear communication and direction.

It makes very little sense to overload the system this way. I feel like I need to light a candle for all of us and the poor CMs working on Monday.

Cynic!

 

[vinotinto]

SO.

Just emailed my Dreams Unlimited TA back to confirm we're planning to keep our trip plans, at least at this point, and she emailed me back that since I've confirmed with her, she'll be able to confirm my trip with Disney on Monday. She said I should hear back from her Monday evening with my new resort.

We're booked for POFQ 12/1-12/5 so I was really surprised by this. I didn't expect them to already be moving December reservations, but I guess that confirms they aren't planning to open any non-DVC resorts for the rest of the year? IMO it wouldn't make sense to go ahead and move December reservations if there was a chance the original booked resort might be open by then. But, what really makes sense nowadays?

Also, for everyone wondering about where they'll be sleeping for summer trips, based on this, I would think you'll be finding out this week!

Slightly disappointed - we were really looking forward to POFQ. We were just going to stay at All Star Movies again to save money but decided to splurge on POFQ for this trip. Looks like we should've gone with the cheaper resort after all. Oh, well. No way of knowing that when we booked back in January! Honestly, at this point we'll just be happy if we're even able to go. We can't afford to spend more than the POFQ rate, so we'll be playing DVC roulette instead of making change requests.

I did ask her if they've given TA's any info regarding the PIF window (usually it's 30 days before check-in but right now it's 7 days before)... this may already be known info for everyone else, but she said the 7-day PIF date applies to reservations through 9/30/20 right now, but that doesn't mean it won't be extended.

I’m not DVC, but I thought Disney could not move cash guests to DVC rooms until 60 days before. Before that, aren't those rooms mostly reserved for DVC?

 

[jenjersnap]

Guilty! But before 2020 I was a wide-eyed Disney idealist.

Cynic!

 

[Dulcee]

This seems like the end of the news for the day huh? Was really hoping with the way news was coming that they'd continue with restaurants or resorts....

 

[Funfire240]

I have a question. Before COVID happened, we bought 4-park magic tickets for the last week of July. We are still planning on going and gave a resort reservation, so we are going to try and get reservations on Monday. With the 4-park magic ticket, you get access to each of the theme parks once. I’m worried the HS or MK is going to sell out and we aren’t going to be able to get one of each park. We go multiple times a year and don’t mind going to one of the park’s more than once over another park, but I’m worried our tickets are not going to allow us to. I guess my question is can I only go to each park once or can I go to others instead?

I have been trying to find this out over and over too for our September trip. One time I called and all I was told then was to see guest services if that happens. I’m waiting to see what happens Monday with reservations

 

[AmberMV]

I’m not DVC, but I thought Disney could not move cash guests to DVC rooms until 60 days before. Before that, aren't those rooms mostly reserved for DVC?

I was under the impression that Disney has the rights to a certain amount of rooms in DVC and if the other DVC rooms aren't booked by a certain time then Disney can take those as well to use for other guests.

 

[Raggou]

Wonder when we are going to find out about dining in the parks and if they are even going to still having dining reservations for places inside the parks.